"We do some flights down the coast where it's remarkable how many times we see a surfer and a shark close to one another and people don't even realize it," said Dr. White.

White said the reason for the high numbers worldwide simply comes down to population.

"The world's population goes up and the world's income goes up and they have more time to do leisurely activities like swimming in the water. Then the higher probability you're going to have shark attacks occur. The sharks are out there all the time anyway," said White.

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